When I heard that Jason's PWL albums were being re-released I dug out my old Between The Lines CD which eventually replaced the well-worn vinyl copy I bought on the day it was released in 1990 (I still have that too - bigger photos!). The staples in the booklet have rusted, the pages have gone a bit yellow and it's only 33 minutes long! So here we are 20 years later with the bulked up, lovely, shiny deluxe edition, and it's about bloody time! Just looking at the cover takes me back to sitting in my bedroom, aged 12, listening to the songs over and over again until I knew every word and driving my friends round the bend. And the funny thing is I'm not surprised at all that I'm still listening to it all these years later in the car, on the bus, or just driving my hubby mad at home! By 1990 I knew this was no passing pop star crush... and it's since gone way beyond anything I could've imagined!

If indeed SAW did sometimes write songs with a specific artist in mind, then Between The Lines was definitely a very personal album in terms of Jason's life at the time it was recorded. Still reeling from his split with Kylie (as we now know), this is basically an album about being dumped. The majority of tracks are about the break up of a relationship, whether it's regret (Hang On To Your Love, When It's All Over), nostalgia (Like It Was Yesterday), the road to recovery (I'm Doing Fine) or being just plain miserable (Another Night). Even the SAW compulsory cover version (Rhythm Of The Rain) is about losing the girl. While the classic Ten Good Reasons dealt with even the gloomiest of subjects in a light, poppy, 1989-type way, Between The Lines was a slightly more mid-tempo and mature sound, which is no doubt more in line with where Jason wanted his career to go as he set off on his first world tour.

The main subject matter doesn't spoil the enjoyment of the album though, and this is probably my favourite of the two. While pretty much everybody I knew at the time owned a copy of Ten Good Reasons (the girls anyway...), a few of the more fickle pop fans had already moved on by 1990, but some of the tracks on Between The Lines are among my favourite Jason songs. Hang On To Your Love had that delicious accompanying video (I was never the same again!), I'm Doing Fine was a quirky bit of fun which fans either seem to love or hate, Careless Talk And Silly Lies is probably even more relevant today than it was back then, and Like It Was Yesterday - revived for Jason's 2008 tour - really should've been a single (and there's no denying those lyrics were DEFINITELY about Kylie!).

As for the incredible 28 bonus tracks, well where do I start?! Jason's final PWL singles (RSVP and Happy Together) are present and sounding as good as ever, along with all the b-sides from 1990/1991 and a whole bunch of those weird and wonderful 12" versions which they just don't make any more! At the time they just seemed to be longer versions of the same song, but listening to them now I find myself hearing all the layers which gradually make up the finished track. Only recently made available on iTunes, the Yuletide Sleigh List Mix of When You Come Back To Me and Spanish version (yes it really is Jason singing in Spanish! WTF?!) of Rhythm Of The Rain are two rarities which make this new edition all the more special and interesting. And who's up for a bit of Jason karaoke with all the instrumental versions?! Tom Parker's detailed and fascinating notes cover everything from When You Come Back To Me right up to the present day, with a few things thrown in which even the biggest Jason fans may not know, and the sound quality is fantastic throughout.

A great album which will bring back a lot of memories, especially if you never got around to replacing your vinyl or cassette copy! There's no denying it belongs firmly in the era it was made (as with most SAW records) but that is part of the charm. Not long after this things got very grown up with theatre, the court case and the drugs, so sometimes it's nice to go back and revisit the innocence and pure cheesiness of those early days...

 

Special thanks to Val Jennings at Demon Music Group

Between The Lines

Originally released in 1990

Reviewed by Amanda

We take a look at the new deluxe reissues of Jason's two classic PWL albums

Around 25 years ago I was sat watching television.... it was about 5.35pm. Suddenly a face appeared on the screen sitting up in a hospital bed. "Mum come and see this fella... he's gorgeous" I shouted. A life long Jason Donovan fan was born!

All those years ago I spent many a day in my bedroom, Jason songs blasting out and surrounded by posters from wall to and including the ceiling. His album - yes album - them big black plastic things, was constantly turning round on my record player blasting out the catchy little tunes.

Here I am all these years later writing a review on an album that dominated my late teens and gave me so many happy memories

Ten Good Reasons was Jason's first album. If I remember rightly it was released on a Bank Holiday Monday. At that time very few shops where open on Bank Holidays so I had to wait till the next day to buy a copy. Mail order and internet where not around then!!!

Who would've thought that 20 odd years later the re-release of the album would be possible. Who would've thought that I... yes ME, would be reviewing it for a successful website that I was part of. Who would've thought I would meet 2 of my closest friends through this and made so many other friends, and who would've thought I would be in the position I'm in now!!!!!

For me Ten Good Reasons is the absolute cheese in pop music. All the songs with their catchy little tunes and the same beat throughout. OK so it's not the most dynamic and meaningful album that some stars of today claim to have, but it's pure cheese at its best. It's catchy, it's fun, it's easy listening and most importantly it can propel you back to an era that provides most of us with some wonderful memories. How good music is for that!!! With the first beat of every song you scream "Oh my god I love this". Immediately you are in a time and a place when you where younger, free and happily for most of us single (well we had to be single as we were saving ourselves for Jason Donovan).

So the words aren't deep, they dont really mean much, BUT they are catchy, they're fun, easy to sing to and, even better, easy to perform on karaoke!!

I didn't have time to put the CD on and sit and listen to every song and write down what I thought of each track. Well let's face it, it would've been the same comment for each one!!! Instead I decided to put it on in my car and listen to it while driving to and from work... BIG MISTAKE!!

The first track, which is probably the most famous track, is Too Many Broken Hearts. All these years ago it would've sent me into a complete frenzy. Not now, it just brings a big smile to my face. It's funny because the memories of this song are not just of when I was 17 but of when I was in my 30's. The memories are split, decades apart. From being 17 and listening to the crackling sounds of it on my record player and getting a bit carried away dancing and it jumping all the time, to the gigs in Jumpin Jaks and Chicago Rocks, the drunken nights, long drives, back stage doors, Travelodges, and then most recently being involved in the tours. Who would've thought I would have memories like this. When I was 17 it could only have been a dream.

The CD continues into a string of hits... Nothing Can Divide Us, Every Day... then suddenly a track that you've not heard for years, songs that you can sing along to and funnily enough you've not forgotten the words. The tracks are brief which is a good thing as you would be so out of breath if you had to sing and dance any longer than 3 minutes!!!!!! So for the first part of the CD we are blessed with all the classic hits that we know and love. The hits that will be around forever... some of the greatest pop songs of all time!!!

As you get into the CD and you've worn yourself out singing to every track, you get to the bonus tarcks and b-sides of his biggest hits and extended versons of his most popular. For me these versions are the tracks that I love dearly. Each track is basically the same song/words but with a cathcy lttle jingle and beat at the beginning and end of each track. The minute the first note starts you know exactly what song it is even though it takes some time before the vocals start. These are the songs that were played in clubs. These are the songs that my memories are made of. Being 18/19 clubbing it wth your mates, not a care in the world. The only worry you had was if you were going to be able to get a taxi home or would you have to walk!!!!!

There is nothing outstanding about the vocals in these songs, but they rhyme and sound good. The work of the legendary SAW has enabled it to be remixed in a way that makes it sound so different. You could be led to believe that Jason had recorded the whole version seperately, but this is not the case. They are the same vocals which are in some way remixed, made longer and make the song sound the way it does. Who cares... they're still fantastic!!!

The later part of the album includes remix versions of Jason's songs. Again no vocal change but wonderful tunes at that... still the same songs we know and love. Then we go into the last 5 tracks, and for any karaoke king or queen these are for you!!! Ever fancied yourself as a popstar? Well if you have get these tracks on and a microphone in your hand and that's exactly what you'll become!!! Insrtumental versions!!!!

Well I suppose like any good critic I should say something negative about the CD... well I'll try. The whole CD from beginning to end is fun. I suppose like I've said the words are not deep and meaningful, that convey to us how he was feeling at the time. The songs are a catalogue of tracks that were written by SAW and recorded by an artist they decided upon. Nevertheless the songs were some of the most successful songs of that time and SAW were the masters of their game. When you listen to some of the songs Jason has written and performed in his tours we all know too well that Jason is more than capable of writing his own material. In that era the words meant little to us... it was the person who was singing that meant more!!!

Probably one of the worst songs on the CD has to be Just Call Me Up, a relatively boring track, maybe as it only has 7 words in it!!!!

Now to pick my favourite!! I dreaded getting to this and have really found it difficult. How can I choose from all the pop classics before me!!!

OK, OK, if I have to... well I think it has to be Too Many Broken Hearts. I think this is the the song that most people associate wth Jason. It was his biggest hit and the track that started his successful career in pop music. The song that has you screaming from that first note!!!! The song that gives me some of my happiest memories over decades!!! Wherever I am in my life when I hear this song it makes me smile!!!!

Like him or hate him, love him or loathe him, Jason Donovan has been around for almost 25 years. The king of cheesy pop, the star of West End musicals, an all round nice fella. Someone who I loved as a teenager and someone who in my adulthood I respect and cherish as a friend.

Ten Good Reasons

Originally released in 1989

Reviewed by Izzy